Conducting Educational Research

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INTRODUCTION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH scene for the entire study. What is the problem or purpose of the work? Why is this issue important to you, as an educator, and why is it a worthy project to pursue? Chapter One describes the significance and the need for the study. It typically provides a description of the context in which the question was raised, some history of the problem, and what theoretical constructs (ways in which the research community views the problem) have been applied to the problem. Often, also included in Chapter One are definitions of important terms. For example, “cooperative learning” has a variety of definitions. Which one pertains to the particular study? “Looping” may be a term that is not familiar to all. A definition would help the reader understand just what the study concerns. If we think of educational research as a road trip, Chapter One is stating the starting point of the proposed destination. It is the point at which you would describe why you wanted to make the trip and to state as clearly as possible where you intend to go. Chapter Two is the Literature Review. It presents an overview of what is already known about a topic. What background is needed to understand the problem? What similar work has already been done? What has been found? What theoretical constructs are important and relevant? Going back to our road trip analogy, Chapter Two is exploring ways of getting from Point A to Point B. What are the pros and cons of driving, taking the train or bus, or flying? How long will the trip take? What roadblocks might be encountered? Chapter Two provides the background information that will help us in planning our own excursion. It is appropriate here to point to Newton’s edict that “if I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” All of what you read may not necessarily seem to be written by giants, but the point remains that we need to be sure that we understand what has come before in order to make good progress ourselves. The third chapter is the methods section. In it we explain how we plan to go about gathering and analyzing data to solve the problem. Who will you be studying (e.g., your own class, all third graders, just the students in your math class)? What techniques do you plan to use to gather data (e.g., a survey, pre/post tests, observations)? How do you think you might make sense of the data you collect? Will you be running statistical tests? Coding video-tapes of lessons or categorizing classroom behaviors? This is the nuts and bolts of the road trip: what means of transportation will you take, what routes, what stops, how did you prepare for the journey. The methods section of the report on your research is important because it lets others know how you have approached your research in sufficient detail that they can make judgments about the quality of the procedures you applied to your work. You will be asking the same questions when you read other authors’ work that readers of your research will be asking. Was the study conducted in such a way that I can believe the conclusions of the study? Chapter Four is the results section. Who or what was actually studied and what did you find? Let’s say you decided to drive on that road trip. Were you able to take the roads you had originally planned? Did you have any detours? Any car problems? Did everything go smoothly? What did you actually see and do while on the trip? At some point you will gather data about your research problem. In almost 5
CHAPTER 1 all cases (particularly qualitative studies) the amount of information you gather is far greater than could be comfortably listed in a research report. Your job is to condense those data into an understandable form. Depending on the type of research you are doing, there are clear conventions for how to do this. Readers of your results section will know exactly what you found after you applied your research methods to gather and analyze information around your topic. Chapter Four sets the stage for your chance to talk in the final chapter about the meaning of what you have found. The last chapter—Conclusions— is the chapter that ties everything together and suggests plans for the future. You make sense of your data, share your insights, compare the findings to what you thought you would discover and to what you found in the literature. The research question is answered, the process and findings are discussed, and personal reflections are added. Chapter Five includes the “so what” of your findings. What does your study mean to you? Because of it, will you change your teaching style, curriculum, or some other important part of your work? Did this study lead you to think of other questions you would like to answer? If you had the opportunity to redo the study, what did you learn in hind-sight? How will your findings impact your current and future teaching? Chapter Five is the destination of your road trip. Think of it as the gathering you have with friends to show slides of your trip. Did you get to where you hoped? If you had to do it again, is there anything you would recommend be changed? Would you use the same mode of transportation and follow the same route? If so, why? If not, why not? What is likely to be your next trip? Appendix A contains an outline of the five chapter model and Appendix B is a sample student research paper. You may want to refer to these as you write your research paper. Every piece of educational research is part of a larger puzzle and it often seems that the conclusions of your study leave more questions than answers. But, if you have followed the traditions of good research your piece of the puzzle will be a valuable contribution. It will help you and/or others plan the next “trip.” 6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THIS BOOK We wrote this book to guide the first time researcher through the process of planning, conducting, and sharing the findings of an educational research project. We have been on the five-chapter journey many times ourselves and have helped numerous students take that trip. It is with our students in mind that we wrote the following chapters. Some of our students were pre-service teachers, others had been teaching for decades. Some were administrators and others were studying to be administrators. Some were young and impressionable; others were well seasoned and set in their ways. Like the Automobile Club, some of our “members” just needed a road map. Others needed possible routes pointed out to them. Many wanted everything we could give them, listing specific roads to travel, with places to visit, hotels, campgrounds, and eateries noted along the way. Regardless of the amount of instruction you need as you embark on your first educational research journey, we want this text to provide the basic groundwork anyone needs to be successful. As noted earlier, we will use the five chapter model
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Conducting Educational Research

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